In the age of cross-border mobility, the rise in legitimate border crossings has coincided with an enormous growth in illegitimate transnational movement as millions of individuals seek entrance to more affluent countries. Ahead of Smarter Border Management 2017, Defence IQ spoke to Jari Liukku, Head of European Serious and Organised Crime Centre at Europol to address the ongoing migrant crisis and the challenges of tackling transnational organised crime in an age where criminals are able to exploit technology to their advantage.

As negotiations over the UK’s departure continue, what control means in reality remains hard to pin down. At this relatively early stage, there are numerous theoretical outcomes, but it could be a long time before any concrete details emerge.

Smarter Borders partner Unisys have written an exclusive article on the predicted impact of Brexit, produced by John Kendall, Global Director of the Unisys Border and National Security Program.

Rising transnational crime has heavily impacted the need to closely monitor maritime activity, meaning that in France more than 25% of the operational activity on navy vessels and aircraft is dedicated to marine safety and security. Ahead of the Smarter Borders Management Conference, Defence IQ sat down with Rear Admiral Patrick Augier, France’s Deputy Secretary General for the Sea to discuss his thoughts on French maritime border control priorities and terrorism prevention strategies at sea.

The challenges facing today’s border agencies and international organisations are acute and becoming ever more demanding. Although the Smarter Borders conference was held in march, given evolving technologies and changeable market structure it has become apparent that there is a compelling requirement from policymakers, end users and industry to host the conference again this year. In part this has been facilitated in view of the increasing flow of extremists to-and-from the Middle East, and the dramatic immigration scenes on the Mediterranean and at the Channel Tunnel in Calais this summer.

The U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP) agency has been running its Trusted Traveler programs for the last few years to improve efficiencies and bolster security measures. In this article, Defence IQ interviews Ken Sava, the Trusted Traveler Program Director at the U.S. CBP, to find out more about the programs and what successes the CBP has had with them.

Tony Smith, Former Director of the UK Border Force and now CEO at Fortinus Global, has declared in his 40 years of border management that he has never seen anything like the wave of migration to Europe we are seeing today. In this exclusive interview with Defence IQ, we talk to Mr. Smith to understand more about how the crisis is putting extraordinary pressure on border agencies and how it may affect future border control directives and requirements.

Switzerland, mountainous, affluent, landlocked, bordered by four nations and a signatory of the “Schengen Area”, showcases the 21st century borders challenge in microcosm. We spoke to two professionals from the Swiss Border Guard and national air carrier, SWISS, about their challenges and emerging solutions in a smarter borders context.

The challenge of unprecedented demographic trends, irregular migration patterns, geopolitical complexity and the heightened terror threat have made border control and security one of the polemic issues of our time. The implementation of "smart" border systems with ever evolving technological sophistication is seen as the key to establishing a safer and more easily protected environment for the transit of goods and people.

In a recent survey, Defence IQ put a series of questions to those working inside the land, sea and air borders arena to find out what they saw as the challenges and opportunities in this vital and politically charged landscape.

Countries are facing new challenges posed by globalization, increased mobility and ever changing security threats. Innovative and effective border controls have to strike a difficult balance between ensuring the free movement of a growing number of people and goods across borders and guaranteeing greater security for people (visitors and citizens) and trade.